The Roots of Our Church
This section is an edited version of the church history written by Jack Gilson for the mortgage burning ceremony in 1987.
In January of 1967, a group of concerned Christians separated from a denominational church because the denomination began a new movement which incorporated principles that did not support some of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, most notoriously a denial of the infallibility of the Holy Bible, the Word of God.
The elders among this troubled group met to pray asking God's direction to determine what action should be taken. It was decided to form a New Testament church based on the pure, holy, and unchanging Word of God. The name chosen for this church was the Fundamental Church of West Deer.
The first church service was held on February 05, 1967 in the Jack Gilson home. After four Sunday services the group rented the grange hall on Saxonburg Boulevard from the Lutheran church. On February 23 the Fundamental Church of West Deer was chartered with the purpose of reorganization being to "win souls for Christ".
As the months passed by the prayers of many were answered through obtaining a piece of property and then through the approval of the building plans. The groundbreaking ceremony was on a cold but beautiful Sunday afternoon, March 17, 1968. The first Sunday service in the new building was held on November 10, 1968.
Over 18 years later, on May 17, 1987, the congregation celebrated as the mortgage for the church building was burned as the church fully belonged to the congregation and to the work of the Lord. Even more important than this, the church could increase missions support from fifty percent to nearly seventy-seven percent of its budget. From the very beginning this church has been very dedicated to supporting world missions.

The church has gone through changes in the past 36 years, including changing the name of the church to "West Deer Bible Church", but our basis, the Word of God, and our mission, to direct the Lord's flock and to spread his light to all men, has not changed.